Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship

Undergraduate students: Spend a week in the museum learning the ins and outs of curating

Do you know that curators are responsible for the following?

Developing exhibitions

Researching the collection

Writing labels, text panels, articles, books, etc.

Acquiring works of art to strengthen the collection

Collaborating with museum staff and community members

Engaging the community to foster conversations about art and its meaning

Curators are experts in a specific field and they are tasked with finding creative ways to share and safeguard the collection. Curating offers the opportunity to explore a museum’s collection through a variety of different lenses, such as cultural, political, social, etc.

Through the Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship Program, we aim to help develop the next generation of curators.

The Program is divided into two components: the Summer Academy and 2-year Fellowships.

Summer Academy: Introduction to curating The Summer Academy is a one-week immersion program designed to provide a rich experience in the museum environment and expose the participants to career options related to art and art history. Each Summer Academy includes workshops, tours, group and individual projects, and discussions.

2019 Summer Academy: June 1-8, 2019Number of Participants: 15 students

2-Year Fellowships: Invaluable experience within the museum All Summer Academy participants are eligible to apply for the 2-year Fellowship combining curatorial mentoring with hands-on curatorial experience within the museum.

Each Fellow is partnered with a curator who crafts a unique, hands-on curatorial experience focused on developing research, writing and public speaking skills. Fellows also participate in museum events, conferences and annual National Convenings with Fellows from partnering museums.

Each year, Fellows must commit to approximately 10 hours of monthly engagement during the academic year followed by a 10-week, full-time hands-on museum experience in the summer.

Fellows receive an annual stipend of $10,000.

2019-2021 class of Fellows selected: July 2019 Number of Fellows: 2 Eligibility Requirement: All participants of the most recent Summer Academy are eligible to apply.

The fellowship seeks to make a critical impact on American art museums by developing gifted curators who are committed to engaging with the full spectrum of museum audiences. This initiative is generously supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Andrew W. Mellon FoundationThe Andrew W. Mellon Foundation currently makes grants in five core program areas: Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities; Scholarly Communications; Arts and Cultural Heritage, International Higher Education and Strategic Projects; and Diversity. Within each of its core programs, the Foundation concentrates most of its grantmaking in a few areas. Institutions and programs receiving support are often leaders in fields of Foundation activity, but they may also be promising newcomers, or in a position to demonstrate new ways of overcoming obstacles to achieve program goals. Our grantmaking philosophy is to build, strengthen and sustain institutions and their core capacities, rather than be a source for narrowly defined projects. As such, we develop thoughtful, long-term collaborations with grant recipients and invest sufficient funds for an extended period to accomplish the purpose at hand and achieve meaningful results.